Slow Food Oahu is part of the international Slow Food association that promotes food and wine culture, and also defends food and agricultural biodiversity worldwide.

Wednesday, March 14, 2007

SOY TO THE WORLD TOUR

On Sunday, March 11th, twelve Slow Foodies and their friends took the tour of this little stick of dynamite in Manoa Marketplace - Soy to the World. YJ Yamada, owner, and Naoto Hara, manager, shared the history of their entrepenurial endeavor. YJ intended to sell a certain style of organic tofu, but unable to find a source in Hawaii, he ended up having to ship equipment from Japan to make his own.

During the tour, we learned alot about the quality of ingredients to make this special tofu, the variety of ways a soy bean can reinvent itself, and how from simple high protein soy milk you can make yuba (soy bean skin) at home. At Soy to the World, an in house dietician from Japan is in the kitchen testing new recipes...soy mayonnaise or is it soynnaise, okara donuts, etc.

The tour ended with a box lunch with taster portions including curry soyloaf, soy garlic dip, pasta salad, soy burger, and a very tasty wrap that had an okara meat substitute that had the tooth feel of meat. Naoto brought out the freshly made yuba with soy and wasabi. Yum!Lunch was healthy, organic, and filling. And yes, very delicious! Thank Naoto and YJ for a great tour.

The reviews are coming in:A fanciful play on words speaks volumes! Soy to the World was an eye-opener and a real JOY! My favorite of our box lunch was the pasta salad...I've never tasted one that I've liked, but SW's was an especially moist & delicious surprise....gems from such a small kitchen. Gwen H.On the tour we learned that they make great tasting tofu, and we are delighted that the shop is in our neighborhood. We love the two types we’ve bought -- they are much better than any tofu we’ve had before. We look forward to trying the drained, creamy one with fruit or maple syrup for dessert. Sarah & Duane P.